Letters______________
2_______
Opinion
WedNEsdAy, M ay 2, 2001
All signed letters to the editor should be 500 words or less and will be
considered for publication if submitted by 1 pm the Friday prior to
publication. Leiters to the Editor arc subject to editing. We reserve the
right to not publish any letter.
'DearJohn letters 'honor president’s dedication
The following are excerpts from the hundreds of letters sent to College President John Keyser
"I want to take this opportunity
to recognize the tremendous role
model you have been for me over
the years. I’ve had numerous op
portunities in many different set
tings Jp see youfin action. 4 At
every |urn,t you’re been thought
ful, articulate, passionate about the
issue at hand, and have displayed
a kindness and compassion for
others that is a unique quality
açtong your peers."
- Liz
Goulard, Former Dean of In
struction
"Over the years you have gradu
ally transformed the college by
celebrating the good things that
were already there, encouraging
good people and programs to rise
to prominence, and redirecting
those forces that stood in the way
of our culture of respect for each
other and commitment to stu
dents." —David Dickson, Assis
tant to the President
"I have always appreciated and
admired you for the time and care
you look to make each of us feel
special, to make us feel as if what
we did was truly essential to the
mission and excellence of CCC.
You are so good at honoring en
deavor, accomplishment and tal
ent." - Marcia Keith, Retired
Associate Dean
"You’ve spoiled me. I don’t
think a college president will ever
be able to be as insightful, as open
or as generous as you have been.
Over the years you always opened
your door to me, made time to ask
me about my poetry or my athlet
ics. Your vision for what decency
and fairness mean, for the type of
service a college can provide, and
for a type of leadership that is
empathetic and egalitarian has been
supported by your actions. Thank
you for speaking for us, for speak
ing to us and with us. I know that
as long as I teach at CCC, I will find
you walking the halls. You have
shaped the values of all of us who
walk through the lives of the stu
dents we serve." - Kate Gray,
English Instructor
"I shall never forget the first time
that I met you and your family
about 15 years ago. I introduced
myself to you and could not help
but watch the manner in which
you so warmly and sincerely wel
comed everyone. A few days after
that first encounter, I was very
moved when you remembered my
name and my involvement with the
students, although at that time I
had been a part-time instructor for
several years. I was not even listed
in the staff directory. As the years
passed you always made a point
of acknowledging me and my work
at Clackamas. I remember quite
fondly that whenever we were hav
ing the cooking sessions with the
Spanish Club, you always came in
to inquire ’What’s cooking?’" -
Cariota Holley, Retired Foreign
Language Instructor
"The College has flourished dur
ing the last 15 years under your
leadership and the Clackamas
County community has profited
Letter to the Editor
In response to Terry Mackey’s article
In my humble opinion I feel the
article showcasing Terry’s talent
was in poor taste and offensive.
The article was well written for the
most part, and Terry is a very tal
ented individual. My objection is
the language level used to make a
point.
College faculty and staff are, ei
ther intentionally or unintention
ally, role models for a future gen
eration of global employees. To
that end, we are responsible for
upholding not only high academic
standards, but personal ones as
well. My objection is this article
about artistic talent went beyond
that. It left the impression that
reading pornography is something
to be emulated and that our
younger students are being told
“Well if reading Playboy and talk-
ing trash is OK for a College Li
brarian then it must be OK for me.”
Do we really want to leave that mes
sage?
I am not a prude by any means,
and realize-publications frequently
use offensive language for
“shock” value, and individuals
sometimes try to push the enve
lope to see what will be tolerated. I
do not wish to appear tolerant by
my silence! Journalistic license
must also be tempered and judg
ment exercised about what type of
language appears in print. What
will appear next in print - F words,
cursing and smut?
/
Dianna Shepherd
Criminal Justice’
significantly from your continuing
interest in and commitment to com
munity service and collaboration.
Your leadership and commitment to
education will be missed." —
Daniel O. Bernstine, President,
Portland State University
"You have steered this college
with great vision. You have always
been a voice of balance and great
insight. Your deep belief in the in
herent good of all people has
served as an incredibly great
marker to strive toward. I am proud
to have you as an influence and
supporter in my life. Thanks on
behalf of all the students you have
been able to touch in your amaz
ing career. Thanks on behalf of all
the staff that you have given so
much to as our president. And
thanks from me, for being a truly
great role model and dedicated sup
porter. I could never fully express
in words how much your belief in
me has meant." - Mike Caudle,
Former ASG President, OSU Stu
dent Body President and current
Clackamas Staff Member
"The first year you were here, I
remember my office phone ringing.
I answered and you said, “Hi Ellen,
this is John Keyser.” I thought ‘Oh,
no, what did I do?’ I.didn’t know
you and didn’t know why you
would be calling me. But you only
wanted to say hello and wish me
happy birthday. I knew at that mo
ment I was going to love working
with you . . . Where else do you
find a president who, during
inservice, has the entire staff hold
hands and take a moment for re
flection? Where else do you find a
president who will give you a hug
and ask the staff to do the same so
we can connect on a level of sup
port and caring? I will miss the way
you have used your heart and mind
to lead our institution. I will miss
you John Keyser." — Ellen
Wolfson, Counselor, CCC
"Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson,
Elvis Presley, Cary Grant, Tom
Selleck .. .these are a few people
MIKE POLLOCK / Clackamas Print
The retirement of John Keyser has inspired Staff and
students to write about how he has contributed to their
success at Clackamas Community College.
Rights are more than just wants
things essential to the prevention
of oppression and the abuse of
governing power. I think we can
generate a few basic guidelines. To
do this, I looked to both John Locke,
and the Bill of Rights.
“But though this be a
state of liberty, yet it is not
a state of license,” says
Locke. “No one ought to
harm another in his life,
health, liberty, or posses
sions.”
And the Bill of Rights
Staff Writer
guarantee such rights as
bearing arms, protection
ultimate power over you. John against unreasonable search and
Stewart Mill discusses this in his seizure, the right to a speedy, pub
lic and fair trial and protection
book On Liberty.
“The aim, therefore, of patriots against excessive bail.
Before a person thinks there
was to set limits to power which
the ruler should be suffered to ex ‘ought to be a law,’ or that they
ercise over the community; and this have the ‘right’ to this or that, make
limitation is what is meant by lib sure that it is the sort of thing that
should really be a right, and not
erty.”
We need to determine what merely something of individual
things should be rights— the desire?
I recently read an article in Ya
hoo Magazine that reminded me of
something that has bugged me for
some time now. People don’t know
what rights are. In the aforemen
tioned article, this guy complains
about hotels not specifi
cally accommodating
laptop users. His list of
necessities include hav
ing a desk and chair that
offer comfort while us
ing a laptop, having an
extra phone jack in the
right place for a laptop
user, and having a three
setting lamp so that he could have
different levels of light for reading
and typing.
Now these are nice features to
have at a hotel if you’re using a
laptop, but to call it a right and to
say that other people have an obli
gation to provide this for you is
ridiculous. Rights aren’t simply
things that we want, or would like
to happen. Rights are something
fundamental; they are liberties to
prevent the oppression of the
people, not to supply them with
their every want and desire.
Rights are designed to reduce
government’s otherwise
Editor-in-Chief:
Business Manager:
Rights are
something
Diàha Scrivncr (x2447)
ClACkAMAS Fkir
Spnnxr
ntcAs with foe.
who come to mind when I think of
you! You are as charming and
witty as anyone could ever be. . .
You have worked as hard as any
one person could and have totally
devoted your life to this college for
the past 16 years. You can be so
proud of the legacy you have left
for all of us. I will always cherish
and appreciate the privilege of
knowing you and working with
you, our exemplary leader and
President." —Suzy Alexander, Ex
ecutive Assistant to the President
Daisy Bain (x2578)
Feature Editor:
Maggie Jirasck
A & E Editor:
Staff:
Tam Oliver
Elena Boryska
Chris Lundgren
Liesl Muggii
Matt Shempert
Robin
Copy Editor:
Jenny Chavez
Sports Editor:
Frank Jordan
Photo Editor:
Secretary:
-Mike Pollock * '
Web-Master
Mark Vcnctueci
JoAnnc Gale
Advisor:
Linda VogFfx^O)
The Clackamas Print aims to report the news
in an Honest, unbiased, professional manner.
The opinions expressed in The Clackamas
Print do not necessarily reflect thoseof thp
student body, college administration, its fac
ulty, or The Clackamas Print advertisers.
Products and services advertised in The
Clackamas Print are not neccesarily endorsed
by anyone associated with The Clackamas
Print. The advertising rate is $4.75 per col
umn inch. The Clackamas Print is a weekly
publication and is distributed every Wednes
day except during Finals week. The Clacka-
mas Print Copyright 2001.